The Dutch Parliament has decided to amend the gambling policy of the country. The measures are all stipulated in the Remote Gaming Act and Dutch legislators are now able to review and submit their comments on it.
Overview
The Remote Gambling Bill was approved on February 19, 2019 and published under the second name as Remote Gambling Act.
The Remote Gaming Act contains the regulations that operators – either local or foreign – that want to operate in the Netherlands have to follow before they would earn a licence. The bill was approved/amended to replace the underlying act. This, in the sense that, the gambling sector that was monopolised before will be amended to give both local and foreign operators the chance to earn a licence to operate in the Netherlands.
The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), which is the Dutch Gambling Regulator, will be in charge of making the final decision on the submitted applications. This process will take six months after submission. Successful operators will then be eligible for five-year licences.
Presently, only two types of gambling licence can be awarded to operators, and they include sports betting and casino gaming. Included in these two categories are various types or modes of gambling that would be permitted or prohibited. They include casino game, poker, slot machines, pari-mutuel betting, short-odds bingo, exchange betting, sports betting with fixed odds, live betting, will all be permitted. The likes of online lotteries, betting on non-sports activities and spread betting would remain prohibited.
Virtual sports – where random scores are generated to determine the winner – e-sports, and fantasy sports will be permitted if they satisfy conditions.
The Dutch gambling policy
For amateur competitions in sports betting and events that can easily be manipulated, odds may not be offered to them by licensed operators. Instead, a blacklist will be used to determine the sports in which betting will be offered.
Furthermore, operators will need to have standby policies that would help to prevent any form of money laundering, tackle betting addiction, and also help preserve the integrity status of the sport. In the regulation, it is clearly stated that players should not be allowed to place a bet using their credit card.
Also, the regulation charged operators to make available to gamblers the different policies they have in place to combat any form of gambling-related crimes.
Part of, and arguably the most important of the gambling reform policy is the dissolution of Holland Casino's monopoly. The dissolution will ensure that Holland Casino gets privatised. But unfortunately in May 2019, the bill to privatise a gambling casino (highly rated at Ideal Casino Nederland) - Holland Casino was withdrawn after heavy criticism from the Senate house.
Also in the regulation, it is stated that the gambling advertisement window would be shifted to 9pm, while the advertisement for lottery products would be between 7pm and 6am.
In research conducted by Sira Consulting and included in the Remote Gaming act, it is estimated that close to 68 companies would be licensed. And out of the 68 companies, 41 out of them would go to foreign operators.
In separate research conducted H2 Gambling Capital, they posited that in tax revenue generation, the Dutch state would amass €2.6m in 2021 and €8m in 2023.
Conclusion
The gambling modernisation plan that is being proposed by the government brings many advantages to the lottery system in the Netherlands as a whole. This includes the creation of a policy-based, social, and legally future proof gambling system, that will boost the standard of the Dutch lottery system. All the policies being proposed are also in line with the modern lottery policy or system.
Disclaimer: Play responsibly. Players must be over 18. For help visit https://www.gamcare.org.uk/.